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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

UI proposes no tuition hike for freshmen

Faced with more Illinois students turning them down, the University of Illinois has proposed keeping tuition rates flat for in-state freshmen who enroll for this fall.

The move was prompted in part by an increasing number of Illinois students who have declined offers of admission to the state's flagship university in recent years and an attempt by the UI to lessen the burden on middle-class students who find themselves not poor enough to qualify for financial aid but not wealthy enough to pay full sticker price for a college education.

UI trustees, President Bob Easter and President-elect Tim Killeen praised the plan, which was detailed Monday at a trustee committee meeting. The proposal will likely be approved next week when the board meets as a whole in Chicago.

Killeen, sitting alongside Easter in Washington, D.C., listened in on the meeting via videoconference.
"I'm supportive of the tuition freeze. I think that will play very well," he said.
"I think we're heading in the right direction," added trustee James Montgomery.

Freshmen from Illinois would pay no increase in the general tuition rate on the university's three campuses.

For non-Illinois residents, base tuition rates would increase by 2 percent, according to the proposal.

Base tuition for in-state students currently is $12,036 a year in Urbana-Champaign, $10,584 in Chicago and $9,405 in Springfield.

This story appeared online in The News-Gazette on Monday, January 5, 2015.